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Ms Truss cited evidence from a report published by her department in 2010 that 52 per cent of stay-at-home mothers wanted to return to work but could not afford to.

A further 33 per cent in the report and 15 per cent neither agreed not disagreed. Of those who opted to stay at home, according to the 293-page report, 20 per cent of “stay at home” mothers said they could not find work with suitable hours.

A further 17 per cent of mothers were not earning enough to make it worthwhile, and 12 per cent cited a lack of job opportunities.

Twenty two per cent of mothers cited a “perceived lack of qualifications” and a fear that jobs were too demanding to combine with bringing up children.

To bring down the cost of childcare, Ms Truss suggested nursery staff should be allowed to look after as many as eight children each.

This would bring allow nurseries to expand and reduce the cost per place for parents.

Mrs Truss – a 37-year-old married mother of two - wants a deregulated childcare system modelled on France’s that would double the number of children a single nursery worker can be responsible for.

The MP for South West Norfolk said nurseries are currently struggling to pay staff acceptable wages because of “onerous requirements on numbers”.

Writing on the Conservative Home website Mrs Truss said: “In England, we need to move to a simpler, clearer system that prioritises quality and safety over excessive bureaucracy.

“We also need to think about the balance between the number and quality of staff in our system. It is no coincidence that we have the most restrictive adult-child ratios for young children of comparable European countries as well as the lowest staff salaries.”

Ms Truss said that French crèches “operate with fewer staff who are better qualified and better paid than their English equivalents”.

In France 40 per cent of nursery staff hold a diploma and are paid over £16,000. Each staff member is responsible for up to eight toddlers. In England staff are typically paid £13,000 and can be responsible for no more than four toddlers, Ms Truss said.

“Our ratios put a cap on the salaries staff can be paid because of onerous requirements on numbers,” Ms Truss said.

If staff are being paid barely more than minimum wage, nurseries struggle to retain and recruit high quality people.” #

The Government has announced plans to support working mothers in the Coalition’s Mid Term Review. Working mothers are likely to be able to claim back £2,000 per child per year to cover child care costs.

A leading parenting charity said the Government must clarify its proposals. Anand Shukla, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute and Daycare Trust said: "The devil will be in the detail. Will carers and the self-employed be eligible for this financial support?”

Mr Shukla said he would prefer to see additional investment in childcare “build on the success of the free entitlement to childcare, extending it to all two year olds and increasing it to 20 hours per week”.

The exact details are due to be hammered out at a meeting of Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Chancellor George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander on Thursday.

Changes introduced on Monday cut child benefit for 1.1million families where a single earner is paid more than £60,000 a year, including many which have a mother at home looking after the children.

Critics have complained that the interests of 1.2 million parents who choose to stay at home to care for their children were overlooked, with only a vague commitment to help married couples through the tax system.

Downing Street sources have told The Daily Telegraph that proposals for a transferable tax allowance for married couples are likely to be in the March 20 Budget.

Stephen Twigg, the Shadow Education Secretary, said: “David Cameron is presiding over a childcare crisis – with 381 Sure Start centres shut down, spiralling costs for working parents and less support through tax credits.

“Now his own Children’s minister says they plan to cut the number of nursery staff – which experts say will threaten child safety and the quality of care for toddlers.”